Treatment of ores containing zinc or other metals.



UNITED STATES Iatented August ld, 1903 PATENT OFFICE.

CARL V. PETRAEUS, OF IOLA, KANSAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 736,009, dated August11, 1903.

Application filed November 19, 1901.

T0 ctZZ whom it may concern: V

Be it known that I, CARL V. PETRAEUS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in Iola, in the county of Allen, in the State ofKansas, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Treatment of OresContaining Zinc or other Metals, of which the following is a true andexact description.

My invention relates to the treatment of ores or concentrates containingzincand other valuable metals--such as lead, copper, silver, and gold myobject being to provide a method of treating such ores by which theirmetallic contents can be secured in commercial forms and at moderatecost.

.As heretofore treated, ores of the character indicated above, even whentheir metallic contents as a whole are of considerable value, haveproved unremunerative for commercial working, because, when treated forthe extraction of their contained zinc, the residues containing theother metals have been of such a character that they could not as a rulebe worked commercially, while, on the other hand, the treatment of suchores for the extraction of their metallic contents other than zinc hasgenerally been at the expense of their zinc values. In the treatment ofsuch ores for the extraction of their zinc by the ordinary retortprocess of smelting, the residue left in the retorts contains aconsiderable percentage of zinc and practically all of the othermetallic constituents of the ore. This residue is, however, light,bulky, and porous, and aside from the presence of zinc in it, which ishighly detrimental, it is physically in a very poor condition forsmelting and has as a rule been treated as a waste product. My presentinvention is based on my discovery that this retort residue, whichincludes a large percentage of the coked carbonaceous material chargedinto the retorts with the ore, can be treated, in ad mixture either withI such coked carbonaceous material or with such coke separated therefromand fresh coal in admixture with it, in a compound reducing andoxidizing furnace, with the double eifect of driving otfthe zinc,together with some of Serial No. 82,866. (No specimens.)

the lead, as a sublimate, which sublimate can be separated by screeningfrom thefurnacegases and of cindering together the residue, whichcontains most of the metals other than zinc, bringing it into suchphysical condition that it is perfectly adapted for the ordinarysmelting treatment.

Myinvention accordingly consists in, first, mixing the ore withcarbonaceous material, and then subjecting the mixture to the ordidinaryretort process for smelting and volatilizing the zinc, condensing thevolatilized zinc, as usual, then treating the metal-bear- ,ing residue,either in admixture with the coke from the retorts or with a freshcarbonaceous material, in a compound reducing and oxidizing furnace, soas to drive oif the greater part of the remaining zinc as a metalfumeand at the same time to consolidate and cinder together themetal-bearing residue, preferably screening the furnace-gases, so as toseparate and save the zinc oxid, and, finally, smelting the cinderedresidue in order to extract its contained metals.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method of treating zinc ores containing other valuable metals,which consists in mixing said ores with carbonaceous mate rial, smeltingand volatilizing a large portion of the zinc by heating the mixture inwith exclusion of air, recovering the volatilized' zinc by condensation,treating the metal-bearing residue of the distillation process inadmixture with carbon, to drive off the zinc as an oxid-fume and, at thesame time, cinder together the residue, containing the other valuablemetals, by heating the mixture to a sufficient temperature in anoxidizing-atmosphere, and then smelting said cindered residue, torecover its contained metals.

2. The method of treating zinc ores containing other valuable metals,which consists in mixing said ores with carbonaceous material, smeltingand volatilizing a large portion of the zinc by heating the mixture withexclusion of air, recovering the volatilized zinc by condensation,treating the metal-bearing ering said metal-fume by screening the furandcarbonaeeous residue of the distillation nace-gases, and smelting saidcindered resiprocess, to drive off the zinc as an oXid-fume due, torecover its contained metals.

and, at the same time, cinder together the CARL V. PETRAEUS. 5 residuecontaining the other valuable metals, Witnesses:

by heating the mixture to a sufficient tem- EDWD. C. REGUS,

perature in an oxidizing-atmosphere, reeov- D. STEWART.

